Inspiral-Transition-Plunge Gravitational Waveforms Beyond Kerr: A Kerr-Newman Case Study

TL;DR

This paper develops gravitational waveform models for black hole mergers in Kerr-Newman spacetimes, extending beyond Kerr, and demonstrates how these models can improve constraints on black hole charge using future gravitational wave detectors.

Contribution

It introduces a method to construct inspiral-transition-plunge waveforms in Kerr-Newman backgrounds, enabling better probing of black hole charge in gravitational wave observations.

Findings

Modeling post-inspiral dynamics tightens charge-to-mass ratio constraints.

Bounds on charge-to-mass ratio can reach ~10^{-3} with future detectors.

Waveform modeling in beyond-Kerr spacetimes enhances tests of gravity.

Abstract

Binary black hole mergers with asymmetric component masses are key targets for both third-generation ground-based and future space-based gravitational-wave (GW) detectors, offering unique access to the strong-field dynamics of gravity. The evolution is commonly divided into three stages: the adiabatic inspiral, the transition, and the plunge. To date, constructions of inspiral-transition-plunge waveforms have largely focused on Schwarzschild or Kerr background spacetimes. In this paper, we extend these efforts to spacetimes beyond Kerr by constructing such waveforms in a Kerr-Newman background. For simplicity, we allow the primary black hole to carry spin and charge while keeping the secondary object neutral and non-spinning. We work in the small charge-to-mass ratio regime and adopt the Dudley-Finley approximation, in which the gravitational and electromagnetic perturbations decouple. In particular, the gravitational sector satisfies a Teukolsky-like equation, enabling only minimal modifications relative to the Kerr case when constructing the waveform. Having the inspiral-transtion-plunge waveforms in hand, we studied observational prospects for constraining the charge of the central black hole. We find that, for intermediate-mass-ratio mergers observed with the Einstein Telescope, explicitly modeling the post-inspiral dynamics significantly tightens charge-to-mass ratio constraints. In particular, the bounds on the charge-to-mass ratio can reach $O(10^{-3})$ in the region of primary masses and spins where the post-inspiral signal dominates, yielding charge bounds that can be orders of magnitude tighter than those obtained from the inspiral alone or from the current bound with GW150914. These results lay the groundwork for inspiral-transition-plunge waveform modeling in beyond-Kerr spacetimes and for probing non-Kerr signatures in future GW observations.